May 2009 Journal #7    Page 1

What is the perfect way to end a perfect three-month study abroad trip in Mexico? Well, it’s not a mutant flu virus originating in Mexico City that threatens to cause a worldwide pandemic and results in the shutting down of most businesses in Mexico as well as the canceling of our goodbye party. Luckily, there were no cases in the Yucatan, everyone in our group was able to get home safe and virus-free, and our professors were very understanding of changing

schedules at the last minute so that students could get home earlier. Although many travel plans and extra vacations were disrupted, even a worldwide health crisis couldn’t take away from the awesome experience that we had lived through as a part of the Centre-in-Mexico program.

The entire trip was filled with new and exciting experiences, and even a few weeks after returning to the United States, I hardly know what to say when people ask me about my favorite part. Was it floating down a canal surrounded by looming mangrove trees, attempting to bodysurf on massive waves crashing towards the beach in Tulum, or being invited to take part in the Easter ceremony in Zinacantan? Could it have been the time on our bird-watching hike that I picked out and identified my favorite bird, the Toucan, high in the trees even before bird-extraordinaire Miguel Mendez had seen it, or when Bethany, Rosie, and I took first, second, and third in a family reunion’s race we were invited to take part in at Hualtulco’s beach? Or perhaps it was standing atop tower two at Calakmul, with the wind whipping through my hair, and feeling like I was on top of the world. It could even have been something a little less exotic, simply sitting at the lunch table everyday and talking in Spanish with Mama about religion,

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